Therapy With Brainspotting
What is Brainspotting Therapy?
Brainspotting is a therapeutic intervention designed to help you process trauma, pain, and emotions by accessing the brain’s natural ability to heal. It engages parts of your brain that may be difficult to access in talk therapy and your visual field.
While talk therapy relies on the thinking part of the brain or prefrontal cortex, brainspotting accesses the areas that store emotions and memories, allowing for deeper healing.
How does Brainspotting work?
Everyone has “brainspots”—points in your visual field that can activate emotions and memories. Where we look can impact how we feel or what we remember. Ever tried to recall a specific word, naturally had your eyes gaze in a particular direction, which prompted you to identify the word you were looking for? Brainspots function in a similar way!
Together, we will work to identify a brainspot in your visual field. This can help you gain access to and release emotional and physical responses that may be stuck within your body, promoting deep healing and relief.
How will Brainspotting support my healing journey?
It can help you reduce and/or release emotional and somatic pain associated with trauma.
It can help you achieve a greater sense of inner peace and self-compassion.
It is especially helpful if you don’t have access to language related to your trauma, as brainspotting can be used as a non-verbal trauma processing intervention.
What is expected of me in a Brainspotting session?
Bring headphones or ear buds, as you’ll be provided with some music that will engage both hemispheres of your brain.
Bring a somatic sensation, emotion, memory, or current struggle you’d like to process for the session.
Allow your body to respond in a way that feels natural or authentic. Brainspotting is rooted in the belief that we can trust your body’s wisdom and lean into your body’s natural healing capabilities. We will allow your body to lead the way. This may feel slightly scary or intimidating, especially if you struggle with trusting your body. With my support, a comfortable space and environment, together we can unlock the trust and healing that your body deserves.
Do I have to talk during a Brainspotting session?
You are not required to talk about your trauma or any content that comes up in your brainspotting session if you don’t want to. Regardless of how much or how little you choose to verbally share with me, this will not impact the effectiveness of brainspotting. There is no expectation for you to verbally process your trauma, especially since we are leaning on your body’s wisdom. If it feels important to you that I know about your trauma, you are also welcome to share this with me. There’s no right or wrong way to participate in brainspotting. What’s most important is that you’re following your instincts and doing whatever feels most natural to you in the moment.
What Should I Expect?
How should I expect to feel after a Brainspotting session?
Our bodies are each unique; therefore, each body may respond in their own way to brainspotting. Some common somatic responses to brainspotting include but are not limited to feeling tired, emotionally exhausted, fuzzy, shaky, or anxious. It is also possible that you will not experiencing any somatic responses after a brainspotting session. At the conclusion of your session, I can support you in practicing mindfulness exercises to make sure you feel grounded upon leaving.
Your body may continue processing some of the themes or insights gained from your brainspotting session in the hours and days following your session. This is perfectly okay and something you can discuss with me during our next session.
How long can I expect Brainspotting to take?
Brainspotting is highly individualized and tailored to your unique needs. There is no structured protocol that outlines a specific number of sessions required for brainspotting. If you participate in one brainspotting session and determine that it’s not a good fit for you, I’m happy to support you by utilizing other tools and modalities that may better fit your healing goals.
